Marlin Model 60 Problems Just Don't Stop

[Swifty Morgan]

I feel like I never stop pooping on the Marlin Model 60.

I bought one, and I couldn't hit a softball at 50 feet with it. Had to send it in. Marlin replaced it with no explanation. Guess they couldn't fix it.

Tried to get a KAT trigger and could not get the man who makes them to respond for love or money, so I had to install an MCarbo. When I did that, I found out the gun has no receiver. It's just two sheets of metal with pins joining them.

Thought I had it working and took it to the pasture to try it with a new Tech Sight. After a while, I noticed the magazine tube was loose.

The magazine tube is (was) held in by a pin, which is now lying in my pasture somewhere. The tube is no longer anchored, and the finish is damaged because I kept shooting it. I didn't see the problem right away.

Are these guns cursed? I thought I could put up with the Mattel-quality "receiver" and flimsy magazine once I got the trigger fixed, but it looks like I was wildly optimistic.

To make matters worse, the lovely Savage A22 I bought to get the Marlin taste out of my mouth crapped out the same day. The plastic dust cover flew off and hit me in the face. A little piece broke off of it. Savage is sending me a new dust cover on warranty.

I should dig out the old Nylon 66 and give it a kiss for not being a snowflake.

 

[entropy]

Are these guns cursed?

Cursed at by me, constantly. I don't own one myself, but I end up fixing them a lot, because friends do, and I was the gunsmith for 4-H, and a lot of kids showed up with Marlins.

Even click-clacks are better IMHO.

My Remington 552 is a PITA to diassemble to clean, but it rarely malfunctions.

I should dig out the old Nylon 66 and give it a kiss for not being a snowflake.

Another very reliable .22 auto.

 

[troy fairweather]

some people love them 60s ive owed many all gave me trouble even the marlin 99 m1 carbine. most thing that brake are the plug for the tube mag and the dang buffer in all of them. people have had them for years and love them but they must sit because when u start really using them they brake. get a ruger 10-22 with the new ruger trigger u can get now they group well. a in pound torque wrench will make most carbine shoot very good. just find the right torque for the action screw.

 

[LoonWulf]

I never had any real issues with mine besides the lifter breaking, and the buffers wearing out. I just dont really like the feel of them, otherwise they have been good guns for me.

 

[Varminterror]

I found out the gun has no receiver.

Embellish much?

The fire control assembly housing - the pinned metal plates, aren’t the receiver. The action forces bear against the Marlin receiver - you know, that serialized piece of metal wrapped around the bolt, the one securing the barrel... yeah, that receiver...

I’ve always found it interesting when folks have so much trouble getting America’s favorite firearm to shoot for them. I can choke a Nylon or a 10/22 with a lot less rounds than any 60 I have owned. And if any of my 60’s have choked, a quick hillbilly shot of Rem oil on the half open bolt has brought them back to life for another happy box of bulk ammo, or more. Lacking lubrication has typically been the most common cause of malfunction I have seen with any semi auto 22.

 

[LoonWulf]

Lacking lubrication has typically been the most common cause of malfunction I have seen with any semi auto 22.

When I got it my Nylon 66 was a straight pull bolt action, heavy application of wd-40 and it started running again....Course i knew squat about guns, and proceeded to gum the crap out of it.
My 597 ran just fine dry, but my other semis all needed to be lubed regularly.

 

[Demi-human]

Perhaps they don't like your field? Maybe it's the field that is cursed!


I have a Nylon Sixty Six. I could sell it to you. Then you'd have a "Cursed Trio".
Sort of like eating at Qdoba. It seems like a good idea, at first...

The Savage was still functional, yes?

 

[sparkyv]

I haven't shot my M60 since I got a 10/22, so I will take it out to the range this morning to remind myself why...

 

[tommy.duncan]

I have a M60 and it shoots til the dirty22lr gums up the action. I clean it then it runs until it's dirty again.

My 60 is not ammo picky and is quite accurate. YMMV

I have been told the RemLin M60s had some problems, I don't know as my rifle is about 30 years old.

 

[jmorris]

I have one that’s always worked, when I properly maintain and feed it but I haven’t “fixed it up”. The receiver is the part with the serial number.

If you have messed up your side plate assembly, you can get another one complete but they cost more than the gun is likely worth.

https://www.brownells.com/rifle-parts/receiver-parts/receiver-hardware/side-plates/side-plate-assembly-complete-prod8484.aspx?avs|Make~~Model_1=Marlin__60


If you don’t like cheap .22’s just start buying more expensive ones.

 

[cdb1]

I’ve had good luck with my Model 60. I think sometimes it is the luck of the draw. Take Burris Fullfield II scopes. I’ve had three in the past and all were good tough scopes that took a licking and kept on ticking. I know a guy that has owned two of them and both crapped out quickly. He didn’t abuse them.

I bought a Stoeger M2000 in 2002 and they are supposedly a POS. It is still running great and the person who owns it now never cleans it.

Swarovski isn’t a cheap optic. I’ve seen more of them break than any other brand other than Vortex.

 

[Wishoot]

Couldn't dump my M60 fast enough. Most unreliable POS I've ever owned.

 

[cdb1]

Tried to get a KAT trigger and could not get the man who makes them to respond for love or money,

He did mine back in 2012. I liked the trigger so much I kept his phone number. His name is Mark Degener. I just called him and not knowing the circumstance he doesn’t know why you couldn’t hook up with him. I just sent you a PM with his phone number.

 

[armarsh]

My model 70 is a great gun. I need to get one of these trigger kits.

 

[someguy2800]

I should dig out the old Nylon 66 and give it a kiss for not being a snowflake.

Lol thanks for brightening my day with the snowflake comment.

After some work I was able to get the trigger and action on mine to not feel like they are full of sand and now with a couple bricks through it it’s finally become reasonably reliable with actually a pretty nice trigger. Yeah the build quality on the 60 is... how do I say this gently... crude. Really makes a guy appreciate a 10-22.

 

[Doc7]

I have an early Remlin 60 (2008 ish I think) and it is incredible. Groups 1.2 MOA at 50 yards with CCI standard velocity and 1.5 MOA with CCI Minimag HPs (not the RNs though).

I am a huge fan.

I just took off my 4X Nikon and reinstalled tech sites so the Nikon can go on a 1976 vintage Marlin Glenfield 25 I am picking up this week.

My 60 got me a Rifleman patch a couple years back and I look forward to another Appleseed shortly. Finishing up a couple ar15 mod and then investing in training - Appleseed, an AR carbine course, and Gunsite pistol course.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

Embellish much?

The fire control assembly housing - the pinned metal plates, aren’t the receiver. The action forces bear against the Marlin receiver - you know, that serialized piece of metal wrapped around the bolt, the one securing the barrel... yeah, that receiver...

I’ve always found it interesting when folks have so much trouble getting America’s favorite firearm to shoot for them. I can choke a Nylon or a 10/22 with a lot less rounds than any 60 I have owned. And if any of my 60’s have choked, a quick hillbilly shot of Rem oil on the half open bolt has brought them back to life for another happy box of bulk ammo, or more. Lacking lubrication has typically been the most common cause of malfunction I have seen with any semi auto 22.

Sorry if I slandered the Model 60. I opened it up, and it does, indeed, have a receiver. It's small, and the workings that go in it are, indeed, composed of a couple of metal plates and some pot metal and plastic, but it does have a receiver.

Put an A22 beside it some day. It's like comparing a BB gun to a real firearm. I challenge anyone to open the guns up and set the guts side by side. And the Marlin can't be dry-fired OR use fast ammunition. After 58 years, Marlington hasn't bothered fixing it. It would take an engineer about 30 minutes to change it. Too much trouble, I guess.

As for lubrication, in order for me to learn about that, I would need to own a Marlin that works long enough to jam. Does such a gun exist? I've had two, and they both failed.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

I never had any real issues with mine besides the lifter breaking, and the buffers wearing out.

I will file that under unintentional humor. Sounds like you haven't had much luck either.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

The Savage was still functional, yes?

Not knowing any better, I fired it several times after the dust cover attacked me. My best guess is that I reinstalled the cover incorrectly, causing it to be damaged and fly off, but for all I know it just broke.

 

[Mosin Bubba]

Is this a Remlin gun? I've heard they have problems, but not THAT many problems. Wow, what a pain...

 

[Swifty Morgan]

He did mine back in 2012. I liked the trigger so much I kept his phone number. His name is Mark Degener. I just called him and not knowing the circumstance he doesn’t know why you couldn’t hook up with him. I just sent you a PM with his phone number.

I appreciate the help, but after 4 months and trying to reach him by email and Facebook, I'm not interested. I got an unexplained lifetime ban over at Rimfire Central immediately after mentioning my difficulty reaching him, so I feel like the whole enterprise has a mysterious cloud over it. The other thing is, I don't want to put more money into this gun. It's a lemon, and even if it were a perfect Model 60...eh.

I decided to take a photo of the A22 and the Marlin together. Here's what I've spent fixing the Marlin: $5 for sling studs and about $75 for a trigger group and so on. I'm not including the peep sight or the gas money for driving it to the store when I had the warranty issue. Here's what I've spent on the A22: $4 for scope bases plus $9 for a trigger spring it didn't really need.

This puts me at about $250 for the 60 and $225 for the A22. Hmm.

The A22's receiver is longer and heavier. The mounting screws are maybe 30% thicker. It has a factory Accu-trigger with a very, very light pull. The trigger stuff is housed in some sort of plastic or composite, but it's heavy and strong. I don't know how the Marlin's barrel is attached, but the A22 clearly has threads, so that's a plus.

One important difference is that the A22 isn't missing any parts. The Marlin's scraped-up magazine is across the room on a table because there is no pin to hold it in the gun.

I realize not every Marlin falls apart.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

Is this a Remlin gun? I've heard they have problems, but not THAT many problems. Wow, what a pain...

Yes. When I sent the first one back, "Remington" appeared on caller ID when they got back to me.

 

[cdb1]

I appreciate the help, but after 4 months and trying to reach him by email and Facebook, I’m not interested.

So you never tried to call him. I see this happen all the time with companies and individuals. People of a certain age, myself included do much better with phones.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

I'm not going to chase a grown man in order to give him money. The thought never occurred to me. I already felt like trying to contact him by two different means (email and Facebook) was verging on stalking.

I wish I hadn't bought the M*Carbo trigger, not because I don't like the product, but because it's an expensive way to turn a bad gun into a slightly less bad gun. There is no way I would put one more penny down the Marlin 60 rathole. It's junk, not just because mine is a lemon but because the Model 60 is an inferior design by objective standards, and because there are better alternatives for less money. I may sell it after I get it fixed, before it breaks down again.

One of the funnier things about my experience is that I modified the stock so I could install a sling stud that didn't apply pressure to the magazine, and now the magazine has fallen out.

I can't believe people still walk past better rifles and buy these things. I really got fooled.

 

[cdb1]

The thought never occurred to you to call him?